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This Thursday’s Thought

In my last post I included a shot of the Three Sisters in the beautiful Blue Mountains, two hours north of Sydney, Australia. That photo was taken in May of this year, three days before our trip came to a close and we began our long journey home-bittersweet-home to Canada. I say bittersweet as temperatures are already dipping below zero and we are only mid-way through September…

three plus me | Blue Mountains, Australia

I can’t bring to mind one memory of our trip without a sea of others flooding in. To appease my travel itch, this typically leads me back through photos, mementos, and other trip paraphernalia from the seven remarkable countries we backpacked.

I remember how my heart ached every time I saw a campervan full of bare-footed, free-spirited hippies pass us by. From this my commitment to one day surfing my way down the Gold Coast was born. Of the presumed dozens – nay, hundreds – of campervans we saw, there was one in particular whose spray-painted slogan I had no choice but to write down:

“You are a victim of the rules you live by.”

(For those of you who don’t know, campers in Australia and New Zealand are typically outfitted in slogans and images, offensive and otherwise. Camper companies and private sales are a dime a dozen over there, so I’d hazard a guess this is done to break away from the competition. That or it’s the product a damn good high…)

I think this slogan has a lot to do with writing in particular and life in general. The rules, parameters, and restrictions you impose on yourself are what dictate what you can or cannot or will or will not do. However big a box you live in (or if you live outside of it altogether), you alone create and re-create. If you take comfort in painting yourself into a corner, that’s fine; just don’t go blame-seeking any further than your own fingertips.

If you want to bend your rules – bend them.

If you want to break your rules – break them.

All that matters is that, at the end of the day, the way you live and the way you want to live are one and the same.

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